Kirbys Adventure &nbsp; Retrospective

Even though Nintendo hasn’t
given the second-tier hero much love recently, gamers can still look back and
fondly remember his glory days. Kirby hasn’t always been stuck in the shadow of
Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi… once upon a time, his series was pushing the
graphical boundaries of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

What were its cultural
impacts and/or importance?

Kirby’s Adventure was truly one
of the last great NES titles to release and it wasn’t just because of the
visuals. The gameplay was as pure as they come. With no necessity to be
convoluted for the sake of being convoluted, Kirby’s Adventure is a nostalgic
look at how games were once created back before they went 3D.

A simple jump allows players to
continue to float to the next boss (or mini-boss) fight and also reach the end
of the stage. There was no need to duel with every pedestrian enemy along the
way – one could simply avoid altercations and continue forth as if there was
never any conflicts.

In addition, the score is
reminiscent of what gamers should look for in their titles. It had all the charm
and none of the extravagant orchestras that developers nowadays are attempting
to use to make their titles “more epic.” This old school standard of thinking
stands out from today’s generation of gaming, and does so in a fantastic way.
There’s nothing more appealing than the allure of simplicity.

What areas of gaming did it
advance?

There’s no denying it –
Kirby’s Adventure is the crme de la
crme of NES titles. The backgrounds and characters look astounding, it runs
smooth and the art style is one of a kind. If gamers were to be shown flash
cards with different gaming environments, Kirby’s would immediately be
recognized for its roundness and undemanding character art.

There’s
something that developers could learn from going back to Kirby’s Adventure –
straightforward gameplay and designs help create an immersive environment.
Gamers could literally be sucked in by Kirby and his adversaries.

Does it
stand the test of time?

When compared
to the majority of NES titles, Kirby’s Adventure is a godsend in the visuals
department. When developers were able to move on to creating titles for the
Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, their games received the much needed graphical
improvement in the concerns of detail. So it has to be said that in a short
amount of time, Kirby’s Adventure was no longer the reigning visuals champion.

Still, the
fact remains, Kirby’s Adventure was a game ahead of its time. The magic it
created back in 1992 (Japanese release date) still surrounds the second entry in
the series and holds up well for today’s standards.